The invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly to electrical connectors for high-speed signal transmission.
Electrical connectors used to plug a communication cable into an electrical system may include a housing that contains several conductors that form differential pairs. The differential pairs are configured to connect with corresponding differential pairs in a mating connector of the electrical system when the pluggable and mating connectors are engaged. However, pluggable connectors that are currently used may have certain limitations due to unwanted electromagnetic coupling between the differential pairs. For example, the operating speeds of some known pluggable connectors are limited to transmission rates of less than those of gigabit Ethernet. If these pluggable connectors were to operate at speeds above gigabit Ethernet, unwanted electromagnetic coupling between the differential pairs would harm signal integrity and the performance of the connector. More specifically, increasing the operating speeds of the pluggable connectors may increase unwanted near-end crosstalk (NEXT), far-end crosstalk, and/or return loss such that the connector is unable to meet industry requirements for applications, such as gigabit Ethernet.
Accordingly, there is a need for pluggable connectors that are configured to reduce the negative effects of electromagnetic coupling. There is also a general need for pluggable connectors that are capable of operating at higher signal-transmission speeds and/or obtaining desired electrical performances.